Goeckerman's
therapy (GT) of
psoriasis is based on daily application of pharmacy grade
coal tar on affected skin with subsequent exposure to UV light. The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of Goeckerman's
therapy of
psoriasis on the levels of proangiogenic
chemokines ENA-78 (CXCL5,
Epithelial Cell Derived Neutrophil Attractant-78), GRO alpha (CXCL1, Growth-Related Oncogene),
IL-8 (CXCL8, Interleukin-8), MCP-1 (CCL2, Monocyte Chemotactic (
Chemoattractant)
Protein 1) and
RANTES (CCL5, Regulated on Activation of Normal T Cell Expressed and Secreted) in peripheral blood of 22 children's patients with
psoriasis. 22 otherwise healthy children serve as a control group. The serum levels of
chemokines were determined by commercial
membrane protein array technique (RayBiotech, USA). Efficacy of Goeckerman's
therapy was delineated by PASI score. Disease activity was significantly diminished by Goeckerman's
therapy (p < 0.001). Serum levels of GRO alpha and MCP-1 in patients before GT were significantly higher than those measured in healthy blood donors (GRO alpha: p = 0.0128 and MCP-1: p = 0.0003). Serum levels of GRO alpha, MCP-1 and
RANTES were significantly diminished by GT (GRO alpha: p = 0.002, MCP-1: p = 0.048 and
RANTES: p = 0.0131). Compared to the healthy controls, serum level of MCP-1 remained significantly increased in
psoriasis patients after GT (p < 0.0001). In conclusion, we found that the GT of
psoriasis influenced the serum levels of proinflammatory and proangiogenic
chemokines, especially GRO alpha, MCP-1 and
RANTES. It could be the cause for decreased proangiogenic activity which is described after GT of
psoriasis.